Omnia's "Reflections"

Omnia and I have a screwed up relationship. On one hand we love their soul splitting, psyche altering, blood raising compositions that bring the spirit right out of us and at times cause us to cross the hedge immediately with just a few verses. On the other hand, I really cringe at that fact, now that I am a little more conscious of social justice issues, that their presentation and music at times is so culturally misappropriative that I can imagine the ancestors of these cultures whose music they are imitating laughing at their attempts to mimic their sacred songs. 

Also, the lead guy  Steve has said some really problematic things in regards to other pagan music groups that really smack of egotistical tirades of a white dude trying to prove he's more "authentically" wild and rustic than the rest of them. So even though I saw them live four years ago and the experience blew my mind and conjured the ghost right out of me, I still feel the need to call it like I see it when I talk about them in real life.

This new album almost made me throw the whole band out with the bath water when I realized it was essentially remixes and reworkings of songs from across their discography. But, I didn't want to knock it until I tried it. So I put it on my car stereo last night and found my expectations wonderfully proven wrong. 

The whole album is like one wonderful cosmic trip across soundscapes. Many of the tracks will make great hedgecrossing background noise when trying to block out the sounds of the house. I'm not saying this makes anything about this band less problematic, but they do make some really lovely music when they play the tracks that get back to their more innocent, less imperializing roots. 

You can listen to the whole album here.